Running into the Wind
by Emerald Seas
Summary: Amy has split up from Ty a few years ago and now lives with her new boyfriend, Glenn. After Glenn proposes, Amy thinks that she might finally be moving on from Ty. However, Ty returns to Heartland and throws Amy's plans up into the air. Please read, follow and review! I would love any feedback, it would make my day! CHAPTER 8 UP!
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

Amy staggered back, her fingers searching for the cool metal of the door. Her entire body felt as if it was on fire, the noise of her heart beat filled her ears and overcame every other noise, including her sister repeatedly asking her "are you okay Amy? Do you want to get some air?"

When she nodded her head at her sister, Amy felt as if it was someone else taking over her body. After what seemed an eternity, she finally found the door and left the room.

People's faces in the corridor seemed to blur, they nudged and shoved Amy, making her path as hard as possible. "Excuse me, sorry" She muttered, despite her dry mouth and croaky voice. The smells of bleach, food and the noise of people chatting, televisions blurring and machines beeping seemed to intensify as she tried to reach the court yard.

Stumbling over to a bench, which was placed in the centre of the courtyard, Amy threw herself onto it. Pacing her breathing, Amy studied the flowers which were littered around the courtyard. Sunflowers stood against one wall, varying in height, some threatening to peak over the top of the building and others barely peaking over their plant plots. Even in the milky light of the moon, the sunflower's radiant yellow colouring stood out against the grey bricks of the building. Tulips competed against the sunflowers for space, weaving in and out of them with reds, oranges and yellows.

The sound of the door to the courtyard opening startled Amy, who had started to calm down. She instantly looked up and met his emerald green eyes, which soothed her and agitated her at the same time. Placing a hand on the bench, preparing herself to get up, he shook his head calmly. "Amy" his gravelly voice was familiar and ignited memories from the past. "No" Amy responded instantly, her voice had turned croaky and a lump had formed in her throat. She felt as if she was about to erupt into tears.

Not wanting him to see her cry, Amy stood up and went to leave. But, he stepped forwards and placed a hand on her arm. His touch felt like electricity running through her arm. "Please" He stared directly stared into Amy's blue eyes, feeling his gaze once again, Amy looked at her shoes. "Look" Amy paused before stumbling over his name "…Ty, not now" before bolting past him and back through the door.

Sighing, Ty watched Amy hurry back through the door and down a corridor until she disappeared from sight. He put his hands in his pockets and went to follow her when he saw a piece of paper laid on the pavement. The faint summer breeze entered the courtyard and pushed the piece of paper slightly, showing that the underside was typed. Ty bent down and picked up the piece of paper, stared at it for a moment before shoving it into his pocket and sitting down on the bench.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

TWO DAYS BEFORE

With some effort, Amy managed to open the lodge's window, allowing a summer breeze to drift in, relieving some of the heat. She stood at the window, gazing at the view.

The sunshine reflected off the lake's surface and dazzled Amy. She could see a couple of guests making their way across it in kayaks with her younger brother, Shane, guiding them. "That's it, well done!" She could hear him say as one of the guests managed to successfully prevent their kayak crash into another kayak. Amy smiled, her brother was working at the Dude Ranch full time since he'd left school earlier that month, and he'd flourished.

The Dude Ranch was owned by Amy's sister, Lou Morris, and their Grandfather's partner, Lisa. At first the Dude Ranch just had three cabins, now that had tripled to nine, with a reception lodge, where Amy was and a lodge for a staff member. Since the business grown, one member of staff stayed on site overnight taking turns between them to look after the lodges during the night and in the morning.

Together, Lou and Lisa had decided to take Shane on full time until he started college in the autumn. He was now partly responsible for six of the nine lodges, preparing some of the breakfasts and helping to run some activities such as the kayaking four days a week.

Lou and Lisa relied heavily on Shane's help because Lou was currently looking after her second child, who had been born only weeks earlier. This was also the reason why Amy was sitting in for Lou on the Dude Ranch's reception lodge for that morning.

The phone began to ring, breaking Amy's gaze from the window and making her jump. "Crap" She turned and looked around the cabin for the phone. Lou had left a huge list of instructions for Amy that span over several pages, which were currently sprawled all over the desk and hiding the phone along with other objects. Finally Amy found the phone, took a deep breath and answered in her most professional voice "good morning Heartland Equestrian Connection, Amy speaking."

"Hi could I please speak to Lou?" On the other end of the line was a female voice who appeared quite rushed as she responded quite quickly to Amy. "Lou's on maternity leave at the moment, can I help at all?" Amy said patiently, sitting down in the swivel chair. "I phoned a couple of weeks ago and spoke to Lou about booking a lodge, my name is Courtney Peirce?" Amy tapped onto the computer and looked at the timetable of forth coming bookings. "Is it a booking for one lodge next week?" Amy asked once the computer showed the booking form. "Yes. I would like to confirm the booking." Courtney replied shortly. Amy rolled her eyes before clicking onto the booking on the timetable. "Hang on; we aren't taking bookings during those days." Amy said as a red notice came up.

Next week the head stable hand, a famous rodeo star and one of Amy's best friends, Caleb O'Dell was getting married to the lovely Laurie.

Caleb had met Laurie nearly a year after his divorce with Ashley had been finalised. He'd struggled to cope with his divorce from Ashley and had threatened to turn to drugs and alcohol luckily, with support Caleb decided to face his emotions and restarted his rodeo career.

It was at his first rodeo since his divorce that Caleb met Laurie. She'd just been through a break up with her long term boyfriend and was in a bar near to the rodeo drowning her sorrows. Caleb also turned up to the bar and got talking to Laurie, the two hit it off and after more drinks, ended up retiring to Caleb's hotel room.

When both woke up the following morning feeling incredibly awkward however, after speaking for a while both realised that there was a genuine connection between them and exchanged numbers. A few days after they met up again, finding that Laurie lived in the next town, the pair began to date exclusively.

After a year Caleb decided to propose and shortly after Laurie gave birth to their son Flynn, which meant that the finances meant for the wedding were now for their son. So the wedding had to be postponed. Now Flynn was three and the couple had decided to tie the knot.

The wedding was being held in a hotel for the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, then the reception was going to be held at the Dude Ranch. Lou and Lisa were going to be putting up some of the wedding guests in the lodges and wanted the ceremony to be private. Therefore, there were supposed to be no guests staying at the Dude Ranch.

"I know but, as Lou and I discussed, she agreed for us to book the lodge." Courtney said after a sigh. Frowning, Amy flipped through the various notes Lou had left. "You know, Lou has left me literally pages of notes and not mentioned it at all. Can I just check with her then ring you back?" Amy gave up checking all the pieces of paper and got a post-it. "Okay" Courtney quickly recited a mobile number whilst Amy struggled to keep up with her. "Right, I'll ring you back as soon as I've spoken to Lou."

As soon as she put down the phone Amy dialled Lou's number. Lou had specifically said to Amy to ring her if she had any questions at all. "Hello?" Peter's deep voice answered the phone. In the background Amy could hear the mumbling of a television and a little girl's voice, which Amy presumed to be Lou and Peter's eldest child, Katie. "Hey Peter it's Amy, is Lou there?"

Peter was Lou's husband; they'd been married for nearly six years now and lived up at the old Hanley farm with their two children, Katie and new born Eliza.

"Sure Amy, I'll just get her for you. Is everything okay?" Peter asked as he made his way through the house, avoiding the various toys that had been sprawled all over the front room by Katie. "Yeah, I just need to ask her a question about someone who's rung up." Peter entered the nursery and was hit by the smell of dirty nappies. "Lou, it's Amy for you" he said screwing up his face and holding out the phone to her. Lou passed Peter their freshly changed new born daughter to hold whilst she answered the phone. "Is everything okay?" Lou asked briskly, mentally running through what could have gone wrong. "Don't panic everything's fine. A lady rang up today, she wanted to book a lodge for two for next week during Caleb's wedding? I thought you were keeping the bookings clear? Her name is…Courtney Peirce." Lou had been relatively confused until the mention of the name at the end. "Oh" She tried to disguise the shock in her voice "I was meant to sort that out Ams, baby brain." Lou nervously bit at her finger nail. Peter frowned at his wife as he held their daughter. "Tell you what give me her number and I'll sort it. I'm just making an exception for her; there are some circumstances that she explained to me. They're going self-catering and won't need any cleaners or services." Lou was relieved that Amy seemed happy with the explanation and allowed Lou to sort it out.

"What was that about?" Peter asked, frowning at a panicked Lou who was putting the phone down. "Ty's coming for Caleb's wedding and he's staying at the Dude Ranch. I'm guessing his girlfriend rang up to confirm the booking…and spoke to Amy who doesn't know yet." Peter's mouth dropped open "when are you going to tell her?!" Lou shook her head and took the baby off Peter "I'm not telling her, it's up to Caleb, he invited him to be his best man."

Peter frowned and followed his wife to the front room where she sat on the sofa with baby Eliza. Katie was still happily playing with her toys. "Amy will be upset" Peter said under his breath as he sat down next to Lou. "I don't want her to be upset Peter, I didn't want him at the Dude Ranch but, Grandpa agreed…" Peter leant back into the sofa and turned to Lou, "the thought of everyone will upset her more, and she'll feel plotted against." Lou nodded solemnly and smiled at Katie, "I know, but as Grandpa said, she's moved on now. He was always from this family."

"Good lesson?" Amy asked, going over to Shane and the two guests who were stood at the foot of the lake. "Fantastic" the man patted Shane on his back and smiled, "he's a credit to this place." Amy nodded in agreement; Shane was going above what was expected of him. When Lou and Lisa had offered him the job, both Tim and Jack, Amy's Grandfather, lectured Shane how much responsibility he was going to undertake. Amy looked at Shane who was blushing beneath his mop of dark curls. "I'll take your buoyancy aids" he said, holding out his arm.

Together, Amy and Shane walked over to the cabin which kept all the equipment in for the lake activities. "Don't you need to sign up for college soon?" Amy asked as they entered the cabin. "Yeah…" Shane said non-committedly as he hung up the buoyancy aids. "Shane?" Amy frowned and stepped towards him, "what's wrong?" Quickly Shane stepped away from Amy, "nothing!" He said abruptly. Amy raised her eyebrows "alright then." She stepped outside and headed back over to the reception cabin, her shift was nearly over. "Amy!" Shane shouted, running out of the lake storage cabin. Amy turned around, "come and help me bring the kayaks in please?!" He broke into a smile.

"One, two, three… Lift!" Amy crouched down and wrapped her fingers around the thick rope that had been tied to the nose of the kayak and hoisted it upwards. Together, Shane and Amy staggered over to the wooden pallets that held the kayaks on land, allowing them to dry out and not be damaged by the stony ground. They carefully lowered the kayaks before stepping back and rubbing their hands. "I forget how heavy they are" Amy said stepping back and smiling at her younger half-brother. She wiped her hands on her jeans before sitting down on a bench, which overlooked the lake. "Now are you going to tell me what's up?"

Reluctantly Shane sat next to Amy. He'd only met his father, Tim, and half-sisters Lou and Amy when he was twelve years old. Meeting a new side to his family was confusing but wonderful for Shane.

Whilst staying at his father's he learnt how to ride, lasso, attended rodeos and worked on the Dude Ranch. When he was younger he dreaded going home with his mother, Miranda, to Moosejaw and had even ran away from home to Heartland. He began behaving badly at school, losing interest in hobbies he'd had before going to Heartland and being badly behaved at home. Miranda got more and more concerned about Shane's behaviour and the effect visiting his father had on him, therefore, she stopped the contact between them. Eventually they worked out a visiting schedule and after months of begging from both Tim and Shane, Miranda and Shane finally moved near Heartland. Since moving here Shane had gotten closer to his new family, Amy especially. The pair bonded over their love of horses and outdoor activities.

"You won't tell dad will you?" Shane asked after a moment. He kept fidgeting with his hands. Amy felt slightly worried about what was bothering him. "If it's not too extreme, if you have a double life I'll have to tell him." Shane broke into a smile. After a pause he began to speak, "I don't think… I don't want to…" Shane put his head in his hands before lifting his head up and running his hands through his hair, "I don't want to go to college." Amy breathed a tiny sigh of relief, and then reconsidered what the repercussions of this could have. "Oh" Amy said quietly, Shane nodded.

His mother Miranda moved near Heartland on the basis that Shane followed some conditions, and one of those conditions was that he went to college. Amy was sure if Shane started talking about not wanting to go to college that Miranda would assume that it had something to do with Tim. Tim had made it known that he wanted Shane to come and work with him on his ranch at High River.

"I know" Shane said leaning back into the wooden bench and staring at the lake. "What do you want to do instead?" Amy asked, desperately trying to restore a upbeat attitude. "I want to do what Dad did." Shane said, staring at Amy, waiting for her reaction.

When Tim first met Amy's mother Marion, he was an award winning rodeo champion, he'd received lots of awards and was admired. Tim kept this lifestyle despite having two children and a wife, this meant he spent a lot of time away from his family, so much so that Amy, can barely recall her father from her childhood. Whilst touring the rodeo circuit Tim suffered a horrific accident, which left him in hospital for weeks and on countless drugs. When the doctors determined that Tim wouldn't be able to compete to his original level, Tim was distraught. Marion tried to make Tim feel welcomed into the family home, hoping that she could finally have a proper husband and her girls would have a proper father. However, Tim couldn't cope, instead he continued to use the incredibly strong drugs after the doctors said he should stop, he then introduced alcohol into the mix, creating a dangerous concoction that eventually led to his divorce from Marion, the removal from his children's lives and the relationship with Shane's mother which also broke up due to the addictions.

"You do realise how flimsy rodeo is? Caleb took years to make it big and he still has to rely on another job because it's seasonal."

Amy tried desperately to be the adult and ensure that Shane knew that there would be consequences to his actions. Really she just wanted to encourage him to follow his dreams. When she left school she'd been discouraged from going full time at Heartland. If she had listened to their advice, Heartland probably wouldn't be such a big success as it was today.

"You don't think I know that Amy?! Honestly everyone treats me like a baby!" Shane threw himself forwards and raised his voice slightly. "I just wanted someone to be supportive! I know Mum and everyone will try to make me change my mind but I thought you'd be supportive!" Shane stood up. "Shane!" Amy raised her voice, something which she rarely did, "Shane, sit back down!" Her half-brother looked at her before sitting back down next to her. "All I wanted to do was make sure that you were ready for what everyone would say to you. You need to make sure that you've thought this through and you can convince that you have done. Now come and help me tidy up the reception before Lisa comes." Amy said smiling. "Race you there!" Shane shouted before jumping up off the bench and sprinting towards the lodge. Seconds later Amy did the same, catching up quickly to Shane.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"There you go" Amy opened the round pen's gate and let Tango inside. The mare swished her beautiful flaxen tail which contrasted with her bright chestnut coat.

Tango had arrived at Heartland yesterday. She was owned by Lisa, Amy's Grandpa's partner.. When Lisa went to view Tango, she was struck by the mare's good nature, although she was still a little green, the mare appeared to be very responsive and a talented jumper. Lisa recognised the mare's potential for showing and eventually breeding therefore, she decided to buy her and stable her at Fairfield, her yard. However, once the mare was at Fairfield, the stable hands and her riders couldn't get near her feet. The mare had reared, kicked out, bucked, tried to bite and moved backwards in response to anyone trying to pick out her feet. Lisa had gotten Scott, a family friend and trusted vet, to check out Tango. Physically Scott had found nothing wrong with Tango however, there were a number of scars near her hooves and on her hocks. This suggested that Tango may have been abused before coming to Lisa.

Lisa had asked Amy to try and help Tango react positively to people picking up and touching her feet. Also, Lisa wanted Amy to try and continue the growth of Tango's knowledge and increase her confidence whilst being ridden and handled generally.

Because Amy knew that Tango was a nervous mare, she wanted to ensure that she settled in before they tackled any issues and that Tango knew Amy and trusted her. To start their relationship positively, Amy decided to do some clicker training.

Every time Tango did something positive, Amy clicked the clicker and rewarded Tango with a treat. Gradually Tango would associate the clicker noise with something positive.

When Amy entered the round pen, she made sure that her body language was as relaxed and approachable as possible. She relaxed her shoulders and didn't move directly towards Tango. Instead Amy a few metres away from the fence of the round pen and waited for the mare to act first. Today, Amy was also going to try and establish how nervous Tango was, it struck Amy that Lisa hadn't noticed the mare's nerves when she went to view her. A reason for this could be that the mare was sedated when Lisa viewed her or that Tango had been in a comfortable scenario and her fear was specific to certain situations.

Slowly, Tango wandered towards Amy and nosed at her, probably able to smell the treats that Amy had. Amy waited until Tango stopped nosing her before clicking the clicker and rewarding her with a treat.

Tango got used to the idea and was calmly stood next to Amy, who rewarded her with a click of the clicker and a treat. Then Amy walked away from Tango, when Tango followed her, Amy used the clicker and gave her a treat to reward her. "Good girl Tango!" Soon they were walking around the round pen together.

After a few laps walking around the round pen Tango seemed to be getting a hang of the clicker. Tango had progressed much faster than Amy anticipated, Lisa was right that she was incredibly clever. Slipping Tango's headcollar back on, the mare seemed much more interested in her than before.

"Is everything going okay?" Lisa strode confidently towards Amy and Tango, who were just leaving the round pen. "Yeah, we've just been doing some clicker training haven't we Tango?" Amy said, patting the mare's chestnut neck. "She's a beauty isn't she?" Lisa said, holding her hand out for the mare to sniff. "She's grasped it really quickly; hopefully she'll get more confident and sure of herself." Lisa nodded and walked with Amy to the fields.

Tango was being turned out with Pal, a beautifully well natured palomino mare, who belonged to Shane and some other mares staying at Heartland. Pal didn't stand for any nonsense and sorted out any bother in the fields. Amy hoped some of Pal's traits would rub off onto Tango and could perhaps play a part in Tango's time at Heartland.

"Thanks for minding the Dude Ranch earlier by the way. And for tidying up" Lisa said winking at Amy who laughed as she slid open the gate to the field. "No problems" Lisa watched Amy turn Tango back towards the gate and take off her headcollar. The mare stood and waited with Amy for a minute, surprised, Amy smiled and rewarded Tango with a click and a treat before leaving the field.

In silence, Lisa and Amy watched Tango trot down the field towards the herd, which were grazing in the distance, appearing like figurines. As she got closer the mare broke into a canter, "her paces are beautiful" Amy said. The mare seemed to almost float along with speed and grace, perfect for a show jumper who would be required to move fast and neatly. "That's why I bought her" Lisa said smiling "well I fell in love with her too." Amy turned and smiled at Lisa before staring back at the horses.

On first impressions, Lisa looked very business driven. She always looked immaculate, never a hair out of place or a stain on her clothes. Amy assumed she ran her stables, Fairfield, behind a desk, rarely getting involved. She couldn't have been more wrong. Each week Lisa focused on a few of her horses, rode them, groomed them, mucked them out and worked with their stable carer. Amy had grown to admire her and really relied on her, almost like a mother figure shared with Lou.

"Anyway, I've been told to tell you to go and get ready. Apparently you're going to be late?" Lisa said, glancing at her watch.

"Oh no!" Amy exclaimed as she looked at the time on Lisa's watch "I need to pick up Flynn!" Lisa laughed, she still was amused by how side tracked Amy could get, especially around horses.

Lisa took Tango's leadrope and headcollar from Amy and shooed her away with it, "go on then!" She said laughing. Amy sprinted off down the pathway back towards the yard.

The heat felt amplified as Amy ran, she wanted a shower more than ever now. Running up the steps of the veranda, her dog, Lobo, laid asleep in the shade, only opening an eye to see who it was before beating his tail on the floor. "Hey Lobo" Amy said before disappearing into the house through the screen door.

Standing in the porch Amy quickly took off her boots and pushed them towards the gathering of shoes underneath the stain glass window. Lou was sat at the kitchen table with Jack, Katie and Eliza. Propped up by pillows and a booster seat, Katie was nibbling some chopped up carrots and apple pieces. Jack was sat next to Katie, reading his newspaper through thick glasses and sipping his coffee. Lou was feeding baby Eliza with a bottle, whilst staring at Amy, who could feel her eyes following her. "You're going to be late!" Lou said aimlessly, not looking up from Eliza.

Ten minutes later Amy came down the stairs wearing some fresh clothes, her long blonde hair freshly brushed and carrying a small satchel. "Right I'll see you later!" She shouted as she left the house. Jack looked up from his newspaper and at the door before returning to his newspaper. Lou smiled at her grandfather.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Standing at Caleb and Laurie's front door, Amy checked the time on her watch as she knocked. She was just in time.

Caleb and Laurie had moved to this house just before Flynn was born. It was situated on the outskirts of Hudson, was made of the traditional timber build with a little back garden and two bedrooms. They planned to build their own house on the land where Caleb's old trailer was situated however, they needed to save up, so for the time being they were staying put.

"Hiya Amy, he's just out the back playing." Laurie answered the front door smiling. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied up, emphasising her dark brown eyes. Just near the front door Amy could see Laurie's big shopper bag holding her sky blue overalls, a nurses' watch, her name badge and white crocs. "Thanks for doing this by the way." Laurie said as she led Amy through the house and into the back kitchen.

Laurie had asked Amy to take Flynn to the suit fitting with Caleb and the rest of the groomsmen. Caleb was going to the fitting straight from the dentist or he wouldn't make it, and Laurie had to work, she was a midwife at the hospital. Laurie also wanted Amy to make sure that the suits actually fitted as Caleb was known to not want to upset people, to the point that he once bought Flynn two left shoes because he didn't want to tell the sales assistant. The next day Laurie took them back and swapped them.

"No problem, after all if we let Caleb choose the suits, you might end up with a yellow suited groom!" Amy laughed as Laurie turned around and pulled a face before smiling.

Through the kitchen window, Amy could see Flynn playing in the back garden. Flynn had Caleb's blonde curly hair and Laurie's brown eyes. "Hey Flynn!" Amy shouted through the window. The little boy looked up and smiled, he kicked the ball one final time before running into the kitchen.

Laurie was busy packing a dinosaur backpack with juice boxes, sandwiches, a change of clothes and a toy dinosaur. "You're going with Amy to try on your suit for the wedding Flynn." Laurie said, as Amy put the little boy down and Laurie handed him his backpack.

"Mum coming?" Flynn asked as Laurie helped him put his back pack on.

Standing up, Laurie got Flynn's green sun hat off a kitchen chair and put it on. "I've got to work honey, so Amy's going to take you to meet Dad. Then your suit is going to be a big surprise for me! Then you're going to see Granddad and Grandma" Laurie said, kissing Flynn on the head who giggled in response.

"Granddad!" Flynn ran up to Bill, Laurie's father, who was stood outside the suit shop.

Amy and Flynn had driven into Hudson, where the suit shop was to meet Caleb and the rest of the groomsmen. After his suit fitting Flynn was going to stay at Laurie's Mum and Dad's because Caleb was going to be at work early the next day and Laurie would come in and need sleep.

"Hello Flynn, you ready to try your suit on?" Bill smiled at the little boy before looking up at Amy. "Hi Amy, Caleb's just inside trying his suit on, I'm just waiting for Jamie, I think he's lost."

Jamie was Laurie's brother, who got on famously with Caleb. Laurie's family lived in the next town, Big River, and regularly got together. Flynn often went to stay with his Granddad and Grandma whilst Laurie and Caleb worked.

"I'll go and see him" Amy said smiling at Bill, "you staying with Grandpa to look for Uncle Jamie?"

"Granddad isn't Grandpa! He's called Granddad!" Flynn giggled, holding onto Bill's hand.

"Oh alright fussy" Amy said smiling and tickling Flynn before heading into the shop.

The suit shop was quite a small family run business. It was where the groomsmen for Lou's wedding got their suits from and was popular with the people of Hudson. "Hi is Caleb in the changing rooms?" Amy asked the old man who owned the shop.

"He's just got his suit on, the bride I presume?" The tailor opened the curtain to the changing rooms, to reveal Caleb stood, dressed in a grey suit.

"No erm…" Amy's cheeks filled with colour, displaying her immediate discomfort. In the past Caleb and she had been romantically involved but that was years ago and neither of them had even entertained the thought of reconciliation.

"She's my best friend" Caleb said, smiling at Amy and beckoning her down to the changing room foyer.

"Apologies" said the tailor.

Amy shook her head and smiled, "it's fine honestly." She headed down to the changing room foyer and sat on the black leather sofa opposite the big mirror that was hung on one entire wall.

Turning towards Amy, Caleb held out his arms, showing off his suit. "Very smart" Amy said smiling and getting up to sort out his collar.

"You don't think that it's too boring?"

Shaking her head, Amy stepped back from Caleb and turned him back towards the mirror, her hands on his shoulders. "No, you look perfect." Unexpected tears filled Amy's eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat, "I'm really so happy for you two."

"Come here" Caleb hugged Amy tightly, oblivious to her the tears threatening to fall.

Standing back from the hug, Amy fumbled inside her bag for her car keys. "Look I'll get going; you'll need everyone else's suits sorting out…" Caleb shook his head and led Amy back over to the black leather sofa.

Sitting down, Amy composed herself again and smiled at Caleb as he sat down next to her. "I need to talk to you about something."

Caleb looked visibly nervous, his eyes kept darting around the room and he kept rubbing his hands. Automatically Amy felt nervous; she had no idea what could be wrong.

"You okay?" Amy asked, working through her brain as to what could be the problem. "You're not moving are you? Is something wrong with one of you?" As she rapidly asked questions, Amy searched Caleb's face for any signs.

"No! Don't be silly, it's erm actually about the wedding." Caleb took a deep breath.

"You're not having second thoughts?!" Amy exclaimed in a whisper.

"No!" Caleb pushed Amy gently with his hand. "I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Caleb looked uncomfortably around the room before blurting out "Ty's going to be my best man and he's staying at the Dude Ranch."

Staring at Caleb, Amy felt numb. Nothing happened. She wasn't angry. She wasn't upset. Instead she just stared at Caleb. "I know I should've asked you Amy but he's my best mate and I need him there." Caleb burbled on. When Amy didn't respond Caleb touched Amy's hand. She responded with a jump. "Amy?"

"I understand" Amy found herself saying, "he's important to you and you enjoying your day is important to me."

A grin grew on Caleb's face as he pulled Amy in for another hug. Amy just felt empty.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Tying Spartan up, Amy sighed, she had hoped that she'd be able to give him a quick brush over and go on a ride. However, it seemed that Spartan had managed to roll in mud, water and had dragged himself through several bushes.

Some of the horses, including Spartan, were turned out in a huge field. The big field had a little pond bit, where a few horses were fond of going in for a bit of a roll and cool down. It seemed that Spartan was one of those horses.

"You're a mucky pup" Amy said, scratching Spartan's shoulder as she bent down to grab a brush from the grooming kit. The big quarter horse nickered, and nosed at her as she stood up, causing a smile to break out on her face. "You're a good boy aren't you?"

Amy began to methodically brush Spartan's black coat. Starting with a medium brush, Amy began to work out the dirt from Spartan's black coat.

Without realising it, Amy became engrossed in grooming Spartan. She turned his tangled tail into a beautiful waterfall that shone in the sunlight, his coat was flawless by the time she'd finished with it.

Just as she was starting on Spartan's long black mane, she was startled by her mobile, which started ringing loudly. "Hello?" Amy tucked the mobile between her cheek and shoulder, making sure that she could still work on untangling Spartan's mane.

"Amy? I've just finished work" Glenn's familiar voice came down the phone. He was supposed to be coming for dinner that evening as Lou was planning to decorate the Dude Ranch for Caleb and Laurie's wedding.

"Oh right, well I'm going on a trail in a bit if you want to come?" Amy asked.

Glenn was an electrician, who worked for his father, and had met Amy when he was doing some work on Lou's house at the old Hanley farm. He had given Lou his number to pass on to Amy. At first Amy was totally against going on a date with Glenn, but Lou convinced her that it would be healthy for Amy. Once she'd gone on a date with Glenn, Amy really enjoyed it. They'd been seeing each other for around a year now.

"I've got to nip home actually, and get a shower, otherwise I would of." Glenn said. Due to the hot summer heat, Amy suspected that Glenn would have been uncomfortably warm at work.

"Oh no problem, I'll see you here later on yeah?" Amy smoothed down one section of Spartan's mane before starting on another.

"Of course, I'll be there to help you with the horses." Glenn said. He always stuck to his word and despite being quite nervous of the horses he always was willing to help.

"Thank you" Amy said smiling, "I'll even race you on the quads." Glenn however, did love riding the quad bikes that Jack had bought to take hay out to the horses out in the fields.

"Deal, anyway Amy, I'll see you later. Love you."

"See you later."

Ten minutes later, Spartan was gleaming and all tacked up, ready to go for his hack.

"Come on then" Amy gathered her reins and directed Spartan to head down Heartland's long drive, just knowing where she was hacking to rather than thinking about it.

Spartan's hooves echoed as they followed the bendy road round to the cut that Amy was heading for. Spartan's head bobbed up and down rhythmically, Amy could feel that he knew where he was going and was looking forward to it.

Once they turned off the concrete road and onto a trail Spartan immediately sped up his pace. With the slightest of aids, Spartan pranced into a trot, easily navigating down the thin and winding trail. Amy was able to sit back and think as Spartan weaved through the trees.

Monday was the day that Ty would be arriving. Caleb told Amy that he'd be staying at the Dude Ranch. Apparently Jack had insisted upon it, he'd always said that he thought of Ty as his son, no matter what.

She had no idea how to interact with Ty once he came. If she ignored him that would surely indicate that she wasn't over him but, if she was over-friendly it could also mean that. "I definitely am over him" muttered Amy.

Looking up at the clearing in the woods that they had reached Amy felt her previous feelings muted by a sense of pleasant nostalgia.

Spartan pricked up his ears as he approached the clearing. The gelding knew this course inside out, despite the fact that he hadn't jumped it in years.

Just a year after Amy got Spartan, she discovered he had a talent for jumping and rediscovered her love for the sport. Ty had built her this jumps course to practise on, otherwise they'd have to travel half an hour and pay to rent an arena in the next town. He'd also taken on some of Amy's chores to give her time to practise. Amy remembered the love and happiness that Ty had generated; it caused her to get goose bumps.

By giving the lightest nudge and gathering her reins, Spartan headed towards the jumps in an energetic walk, his head bobbing up and down enthusiastically. Another nudge saw Spartan break into a working trot. Guiding Spartan around the jumps with her reins, Amy made sure that Spartan was listening to her rather than trying to guess what route they were taking.

After weaving through the jumps, Amy finally lined Spartan up to jump a cross pole jump. The black horse arched his neck, pricked his ears and eagerly trotted towards the jump, his hooves pounding away at the ground. Amy counted his strides under her breath, "one, two, three!" Spartan pushed off the ground with his strong hind legs, soaring into the air. Immediately Amy adapted the jumping position, putting her hands quite far up Spartan's neck, standing in her stirrups and looking ahead through Spartan's ears.

Spartan easily cleared the jump, landing it perfectly. As he came away from the jump Spartan broke into a beautiful canter, easily turning the corner and facing the next jump, which was an oxer.

Gently Amy pulled back slightly, stopping Spartan from bolting at the oxer in excitement. Reluctantly the black gelding slowed down and gathered his canter.

Easily Spartan cleared the oxer; Amy felt a sense of enjoyment flow through her veins. She leant forwards and patted Spartan on the neck smiling.

She glanced over the part of the clearing which was near the dirt track which the trucks used to get down here. In the past Ty had parked up his truck, sat in the back of the truck on a bale of straw. Sometimes he filmed her, timed her, coached her and other times he just watched her. She looked over, expecting him to be there, with his brown hair getting rustled in the wind, going into his green eyes, saying well done or telling her how it could've been better.

When she realised no one was there, Amy felt a sinking feeling.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Standing at the edge of the round pen, Amy watched Douglas, or Dougie as he was known at Heartland, wander around.

Dougie had come to Heartland from a rescue centre. Around a year ago, he'd been seized by Animal Welfare for being kept in poor conditions with lots of other horses. Dougie was one of the worst cases that the staff had seen at the rescue centre.

Dougie was only a youngster and had been found wearing a headcollar that was way too small for him. As a result he'd had scars from the headcollar and was now very head shy.

The staff at the rescue centre had found Dougie increasingly difficult to handle and even more hard to rehome, especially considering he was so against human contact.

When Amy first saw Dougie she was struck by his beauty. He was a grey dun, which meant that he had a light grey coat and black mane.

As Amy studied Dougie, Glenn pulled up. As he walked over, Amy turned her head and smiled at her boyfriend. "Hey" she said almost whispering.

"Who's this?" Glenn asked, adapting a similar hushed tone which was in stark contrast to his usual booming voice.

Amy looked back at the horse, "Dougie."

"What's wrong with him?" Glenn had a basic grasp over what Amy did, he'd never been around horses till he'd met her and had never stressed an interest in learning how to ride.

Internally, Amy cringed at Glenn's phrasing. Her mother, Marion had always said that there was no such thing as a 'broken' horse, and that at Heartland they healed horses rather than 'fixed' them. "He's doesn't pay attention to people at all, so he's really hard to handle."

Frowning, Glenn leaned one of the wooden poles that the round pen was made up of. The sudden movement caused Dougie to spook and the youngster bolted into a canter around the pen.


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

Rolling over for what seemed like the hundredth time, Amy sighed. She stared at the red digits that glowed from the alarm clock which informed her that it was 3.23am, only five minutes since she'd last checked.

As soon as she entered the farm house for dinner, Lou had asked Amy to talk to her.

"Amy, come and help me with the dinner?" Lou asked, standing in the archway of the kitchen and dining room, holding a tea towel and wearing her blue polka-dot apron.

"I'll help!" Georgie shouted, enthusiastically jumping up from the sofa, throwing her homework onto Peter's knee and the floor.

"You need to finish your homework before dinner." Peter said picking up her book from his knee and putting it back onto the little pop-up table in front of Georgie's seat.

Peter and Lou's foster child was incredibly feisty and would do anything to escape homework, however, she loved ranch work more than anything.

"But?" Georgie protested, looking at Jack.

"That homework's got to be finished before we go and drive those cattle Georgie. That was the deal." Jack said, looking up from his newspaper.

Reluctantly, Georgie sat back down and Amy headed into the kitchen.

Amy knew that her sister would be concerned whether she would be mad with her or if Amy was worried about Ty coming back to Heartland.

"I want to speak before you do." Lou said calmly as she stirred the dinner, clearly she'd rehearsed this speech and had been worrying over. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry and you know that Ty will always be a part of Heartland, despite what happened in the past. I did it so it would hurt you less and it was Caleb's wish, for his wedding to have his best man there." Lou took a deep breath after her speech and looked at Amy who burst into laughter.

"You haven't written that down have you?" Amy asked smiling.

"What?" Lou stopped stirring the dinner and stared at Amy, "you're not mad? We aren't going to stop speaking?"

Smiling, Amy shook her head. "I understand Lou. Stop worrying."

Behind her smile, Amy herself was worried. She was so worried that as soon as she'd said goodnight to Glenn as he went home, waved off Lou and Peter, locked up the barn, took the dogs for a last minute walk and gone to bed that she couldn't get to sleep. Her restlessness was growing by the minute, so Amy decided to get herself a drink in the hope it would help her sleep.

Quietly, Amy crept across the floorboards of the farm house, despite the fact she was the only person in the house. Earlier that evening Jack had headed over to Fairfield to see Lisa when a power cut occurred. He'd decided to stay over there and help Lisa try and get her emergency generator on. Luckily Heartland's emergency generator had come on straight away, only the phone wasn't working.

The gentle clunk of the fridge door shutting woke Lobo and Remi up, each opening one eye to glance at Amy. They were both laid on their dog beds, underneath a window trying to sleep and stay cool.

Lobo was a beautiful husky like dog and had once been mistaken for a wolf by a ranch owner trying to protect his land. Usually he would be sleeping next to Amy at the bottom of her bed however, the cold tiles of the kitchen won him over during the summer.

Remi was a very quiet female German Shepard, who usually tagged along with Amy or Georgie when she was up at Heartland. She always slept near Lobo and the two had formed quiet a bond, hence the reason why Georgie had not taken Remi to live with her when they all finally moved out of Heartland and into their own house.

"Hey guys" Amy softly cooed to the dogs, who thumped their tails against the floor gently before shutting their eyes again. Amy poured herself a little glass of water before opening the porch door and slipping out.

Outside, the night was peaceful. Due to it being so quiet, Amy heard the gentle nickers of the horses in the fields, just near the barn, and the clucking of the hens getting ready for bed. Gently Amy eased herself onto the bench, setting her glass down beside her and stared at the starry sky.

Contentedly, Amy sat on the bench for nearly half an hour, when a pair of headlights heading down the driveway broke her concentration. Hearing the car, both the dogs got up and started barking at the screen door. Amy squinted her eyes but, she didn't recognise the car.

As the car got closer, Amy suddenly became conscious of what she was wearing; just a strappy pyjama vest top and matching shorts.

Amy folded her arms as she headed down the veranda steps and down through the front garden of the farm house. The grey Toyota Prius pulled up in front of the house.

"Lobo! Remi!" Amy called back the dogs, who immediately ran up to the car with their tails wagging. Amy was aware that seeing two big dogs could be quite nerve wrecking.

It was so dark that Amy couldn't see in to the tinted windows of the car. She stood in the gateway watching the car as the driver's door opened, "Amy?"

"I thought… I…" Amy began to stammer whilst staring at Ty. His dark brown hair was sticking up on end, as if he'd been resting against something uncomfortably or running his hands through it. Stubble shaded his jaw line and highlighted the bright greens of his eyes. "I thought you weren't coming till Monday?" Amy said after clearing her throat.


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Staring at the winding road, Ty fought to keep his eyes open and keep focused, despite the tiredness that was now creeping up on him.

"The battery's gone!" Courtney exclaimed, slamming her laptop shut and scowling.

Ty jumped at the noise of the laptop shutting, "what?" he said, momentarily looking at his girlfriend, who was now pulling her knees towards her and hugging them tightly with her UGG boots on the car seat.

"I can't use the internet because there's no WIFI round here" she looked through the window of the car and stared into the darkness, only able to see trees whooshing by, "now, my battery has gone so I can't even use the laptop!"

Half way through Courtney's rant, Ty had switched off, only noticing a few moments later that she'd stopped talking. "Well its" Ty yawned mid-sentence "only ten minutes away" he said, telling himself as well as Courtney.

As Ty pulled on to the winding road that led up to Heartland, he passed places that he knew, places that he'd been with Amy, Sheep River, Hudson Hill, High River, it made him feel nervous and sad. It felt as if it was a life time ago he was standing there, riding Harley there, with Amy there.

"I better have Wi-Fi there, that Amy sounded like she'd never used a computer in her life." Courtney muttered, breaking Ty's train of thought again.

"What?" He snapped his head towards Courtney and raised his voice slightly.

Red faced Courtney sat up straight "don't shout at me." She said sternly, frowning at Ty and folding her arms.

Slowly Ty shook his head, "sorry I'm just tired."

"Well don't do it again. I won't stand for it, I don't deserve it." Courtney said stroppily, turning her head towards the window and sighing.

"Look… Courtney?" Ty glanced at the black haired woman sat beside him. Her short black bob didn't have a hair out of place, in the year that he dated her; he hadn't once seen her look slightly ruffled. "Court?" Ty reached out with his right hand and putting it on her leg, "Court I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again" she muttered, shrugging off his hand.

They travelled for the rest of the journey in silence, surrounded by the complete darkness, their path only being lit by the headlights of the car. A stranger to the area may have struggled to find the little driveway/lane that led down to Heartland, but Ty knew Hudson like the back of his hand, particularly around Heartland. As he clicked the indicator, Ty felt another rush of nerves hit him.

The wooden Heartland sign stood silently as Ty drove under it, passing the Bartlet post box. Ty stared out into the fields and pastures, hoping to see Harley or Spartan.

As they made their way further down the drive, the farm house came into sight. Surprisingly, it was illuminated. As they got closer to the farm house, he saw a figure, sitting on the veranda. "Who's that?" Courtney asked brashly.

"Amy." He replied, his heart rate increasing.


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

"I've made a bed up, do you want to put your stuff in the room?" Amy asked as she came down the stairs. Ty and Courtney were both sat at the kitchen table drinking glasses of water, surrounded by their luggage which had been unloaded from the car.

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean we could drive into High River and try the motel?" Ty asked as he took their empty glasses over to the kitchen sink.

Courtney had quickly explained their early arrival as Ty had unloaded their luggage. Their original plan was to fly to Calgary and spend two days in the big city, exploring and sightseeing. Apparently Courtney had never been to Alberta. However, their hotel had unexpectedly shut, due to some major building work occurring. Unable to afford other last minute rooms and realising that if they arrived in Hudson two days earlier, Ty would be able to attend Caleb's stag do, they made the long drive. Due to the phone lines being dead, they hadn't been able to pre-warn Amy.

Amy shook her head, "honestly its fine. You don't want to be driving for another half an hour, you'd fall asleep! There are plenty of free rooms here."

"We really appreciate this Amy." Courtney said sweetly smiling. The petite woman picked up a small vanity bag and headed over to the stairwell, "where's this room then?"

The room that Ty and Courtney would be staying in used to belong to Lou and Peter, back when they lived at Heartland. The room still had the décor that Lou had designed. Made up of wholesome materials that reflected the farm house's history whilst still being clean cut and stylish.

"This is so cute!" Courtney said, as she entered the room, immediately setting her vanity case on the bed and looking around. Amy smiled, feeling tiredness finally creep up on her.

Ty came up behind her, carrying a case.

"That's not the one Ty, go and get the other one." Courtney said, groaning.

Clearly shattered, Ty sighed and headed back down the stairs.

"God, you can't get anything done right unless you do it yourself can you Amy?" Courtney said happily her tone a stark contrast to the one she used to address Ty.

"I'm going to leave you guys to it" Amy said awkwardly smiling, "the bathroom's just next door to you guys and I'm just across the hall if you need anything. Help yourselves to anything from the kitchen, in the morning I'll probably be in the barn."

"Thank you Amy, once again." Courtney pulled Amy in for a hug, startling her slightly.

"You're welcome, night." Sheepishly Amy said.

"Night" Courtney turned around and began rooting around her vanity case.

Amy headed across the landing, meeting Ty at the top of the stairwell on the way. She grabbed the other end of a suitcase he was awkwardly carrying and set it down on the landing. "Thanks" he said quietly.

"No problems, I'm going to bed. Are all the lights off downstairs?" Amy matched Ty's hushed volume.

"Yeah…" Ty stared at Amy for a few moments, "night."

"Night."


End file.
